5 ~(at~ 











The person charging this material is re¬ 
sponsible for its return to the library from 
which it was withdrawn on or before the 
Latest Date stamped below. 

Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons 
for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from 
the University. 

To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 



L161—0-1096 















THANKSGIVING DAY 


PREPARED BY THE 

FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF JERSEY CITY 


The observance of days of Thanks¬ 
giving dates back to the most remote 
ages, and is found among almost all na¬ 
tions. These celebrations usually took 
the form of festivals of thanksgiving for 
the gathering of the harvest. Among the 
ancient Egyptians these occasions were 
observed with sacrifices and other cere¬ 
monies. The inhabitants of ancient India 
also had their harvest festivals which are 
still observed in many parts of India. 

One of the earliest harvest festivals on 
record is that mentioned in the Bible as be¬ 
ing observed by the Canaanites. The He¬ 
brews celebrated a similar festival called the 
“Feastof the Tabernacles.” This occurred 
each year at the end of the harvest. Dur¬ 
ing the festival the people assembled in 
enormous numbers at Jerusalem. No work 
was done, and the time was given up to 
feasting and celebration. The Feast of the 
Tabernacles is still partially observed by 
the Jews in all lands. 

The harvest festival of the ancient 
Greeks was the feast of Demeter, the god¬ 
dess of agriculture, which was celebrated in 
November. The Romans worshipped the 
same deity under the name Ceres, and ob¬ 
served the festival each year on October the 
4th. The Druids of ancient Britain cele¬ 
brated their harvest festival on the first of 
November. Among the American Indians 
there -was an autumnal festival somewhat 
resembling these. 

In England the festival was known as 
the “Harvest Home.” This was observed 
as far back as the time of the Saxons and is 
still celebrated in many of the rural parts of 
England. A general festival is held for the 
whole parish, to which all the farmers are 
expected to contribute. It begins with a 
special service at the village church, which 
is decorated for the occasion. T his is fol¬ 


lowed by a dinner in a tent or some large 
building. There are usually rustic sports 
and games. In Scotland the festival was 
observed under the name of “ Kern.” 

Days of thanksgiving for special occa¬ 
sions have been common in all Christian 
countries in all ages. A number of such 
celebrations have been held in England, one 
of which was for the defeat of the Spanish 
Armada in 1588. The inhabitants of Ley¬ 
den, Holland, for many years observed 
October 3rd, as a day of thanksgiving in 
memory of the deliverance of that city from 
the Spaniards in 1574. This was a popu¬ 
lar festival among the Dutch during the ten 
years the Pilgrims lived in Holland and 
may have suggested to them the Thanks¬ 
giving celebrations which were afterward 
held at Plymouth. 

Thanksgiving in America. 

Probably the first thanksgiving service 
in America was that held on May 27, 1578, 
by the members of the expedition under 
Frobisher, on the shores of Newfoundland. 
This was conducted by an English minister 
named Wolfall, who preached a thanks¬ 
giving sermon. The first record of a 
thanksgiving service within the limits of 
the present United States was that held by 
the members of the Popharn colony who 
settled on the coast of Maine in August, 
1607. According to some authorities a 
thanksgiving service was held by the Pil¬ 
grims as early as December, 1620, soon after 
the landing of the Mayflower. 

Those, however, were merely thanksgiv¬ 
ing services, and the origin of a day of 
thanksgiving such as we now celebrate 
must be attributed to Governor Bradford of 
Plymouth. In November, 1620, the Pilgrims 
landed on the desolate coast of New Eng¬ 
land and passed the following winter with 



















great suffering and privation. In the 
spring seed was sown and its growth was 
watched with great anxiety, for on the re¬ 
sult depended the lives of the colonists. 
When the grain was cut and the harvest 
was found to be abundant, there was great 
rejoicing, and the governor proclaimed a 
day of thanksgiving. He sent out four 
men in search of game, and they soon re¬ 
turned with a large number of wild fowl, 
most of which were turkeys. It is doubt¬ 
less due to this incident that the turkey has 
always been considered a necessary feature 
of Thanksgiving feasts. 

This festival lasted nearly a week and 
a large party of friendly Indians, including 
the chief Massasoit, shared in the festivi¬ 
ties. The “bill of fare” for this first 
Thanksgiving feast has not been handed 
down to us, but it doubtless consisted of 
turkeys, ducks and geese. The Indians 
furnished venison and probably other game. 
The vegetables appear to have been the 
same as those now used at Thanksgiving. 
The native squash and pumpkin were used 
and it is not unlikely that they had pump¬ 
kin pie. The provisions must have been 
abundant, for about 140 persons, including 
90 Indians, were entertained for three days. 
The exact date of this festival is not known, 
but according to the records it must have 
occurred between September 23rd and No¬ 
vember 11th, probably in October, 1621. 

The Pilgrims appointed similar festi¬ 
vals of Thanksgiving on various occasions, 
but it does not appear that it was regularly 
observed. In July, 1623, a day of thanks¬ 
giving was appointed and mention is made 
of similar observances in 1633 and 1651. 
In 1668 the 25th day of November was ap¬ 
pointed and similar days were observed in 
1680 and 1690. In 1692 the Plymouth 
Colony was united to Massachusetts and 
lost its separate identity* 

In the Colony of Massachusetts Bay 
the appointment of days of thanksgiving 
was quite common. One was observed in 
July, 1630, for the safe arrival of the ships 
which left England with Governor Win- 
throp in the spring of that year. During 
the following winter the little colony was on 


Tn^^pPge of starvation. By midwinter the 
prospect was so gloomy that a day of fast¬ 
ing and prayer was appointed. The exact 
date is not known, but it was probably 
about the middle of February. Just before 
that time, however, a ship laden with pro¬ 
visions arrived and the fast day was 
changed to one of thanksgiving, which was 
observed on February 22, 1631. 

In the year 1633 two days of thanks¬ 
giving were appointed, one on the 19th of 
June, and one on the 16th of October, “for 
a beautiful harvest.” This seems to have 
been the beginning in the Bay Colony for 
the day as it was afterwards observed. But 
after this the matter dropped for some years. 
In June, 1637, there was a thanksgiving for 
“victory over the Pequods.” In 1638 and 
1639 autumnal thanksgivings were held. 
Then there is a lapse until 1646. In 1654, 
1656, 1659 and 1661 festivals of thanksgiv¬ 
ing were appointed in which the “blessings 
of the harvest’ ’ were remembered. It is evi¬ 
dent that the festival was approaching a 
fixed and regular appointment, though it 
was a long time before that result was fully 
reached. Every little while a year or two 
would be passed over, for reasons that are 
not known now. 

In the Connecticut colonies the first 
appointment of a day of thanksgiving was 
made in 1639. This was followed by festi¬ 
vals in 1644 and 1649. From 1649 onward 
the observance was quite regular and the 
festival had evidently come to stay. 

In the Rhode Island colonies not much 
was made of thanksgiving. The first 
record is in 1687 when Governor Andros 
appointed a day of thanksgiving for New 
England. This was generally disregarded 
in Rhode Island, and several persons were 
brought before the courts fordoing business 
on that day. After the administration of 
Governor Andros the observance of Thanks¬ 
giving appears to have been dropped en¬ 
tirely in the colony of Rhode Island until 
the French and Indian wars, when several 
public thanksgivings was held. This prac¬ 
tice was not taken up again until the Rev¬ 
olution when the Colony observed the days 
appointed by the Continental Congress. 




In Virginia there appears to have^ 

<• little observance of days of Thanksgiving, 
v but the days appointed for special occasions 
the English government were of course 
celebrated in the colony. 

In the colony of New York the ob¬ 
servance was not regular and seems to 
have been only held for special events. 
Under the Dutch rule there were several 
thanksgiving festivals held. One was pro¬ 
claimed by Governor Kieft in February, 
1644, for victory over the Indians. The 
6th of September, 1645, was appointed by 
Governor Kieft as a day of thanksgiving 
for the signing of a treaty of peace which 
brought the Indian war to a close. In 
1654 a festival of thanks was held for the 
establishment of peace between Holland 
and England. Similar festivals were held 
in 1655, 1659 and 1664. In 1665 New Am¬ 
sterdam changed hands, and the English 
kept a day of thanksgiving for the con¬ 
quest. Other thanksgiving celebrations 
were held in New York on various occa¬ 
sions, including several during the French 
and Indian war. 

In New Jersey during the Colonial period 
there appears to have been little regularity 
in the observance of thanksgiving days. 
While under the control of the Dutch the 
colony undoubtedly observed the same fes¬ 
tivals as did the other parts of New Neth- 
erland. The festival of September, 1645, in 
particular, must have been observed with 
the most heartfelt thanks by the inhabi¬ 
tants of Pavonia, now Jersey City. They 
had suffered most severely during the In¬ 
dian war just closed, and were now able to 
return to their homes in Pavonia, from 
which they had been exiled for over two 
years. After New Jersey became an English 
colony, there are a number of days of 
thanksgiving recorded, most of which were 
held because of special events, though a few 
seem to have resembled the New England 
festivals. In 1676 the General Assembly 
of the province appointed the second 
Wednesday in November of that year as a 
day of public thanksgiving. A similar fes¬ 
tival was observed on November 26, 1678, 
and again on June 11, 1696. In 1749 the 



Governor appointed Thursday, 

23, as a day of public thanksgiving 
28th of November, 1750, was similar 
pointed. During the French and 
wars several such festivals were observed^ 

Thanksgiving Since Colonial Times. 

During the Revolution Thanksgiving 
lost some of its local character. The Con¬ 
tinental Congress recommended the follow¬ 
ing dates to be observed as days of thanks¬ 
giving :—Thursday, July 20, 1775 ; Friday, 
May 17, 1776 ; Wednesday, April 22, 1778; 
Thursday, May 6, 1779 ; Wednesday, April 
6, 1780 ; Thursday, May 3, 1781 ; Thurs¬ 
day, April 25, 1782 ; and another day the 
date of which was to be fixed by the sev¬ 
eral states, was ordered by a resolution 
adopted December 11, 1776. With only 
one exception the Continental Congress 
suspended business on all these days. 
Washington issued a proclamation for a 
general thanksgiving by the Continental 
Army on Thursday, December 18, 1777, 
and also at Valley Forge May 7, 1778. 

A few days before Congress adjourned in 
September, 1789, Elias Boudinot moved in 
the House of Representatives, that Presi¬ 
dent Washington be requested to recom¬ 
mend “ a day of thanksgiving and prayer 
to be observed by the people of the 
United States in acknowledgment of 
the favors of the Almighty God, and 
especially His affording them the oppor¬ 
tunity, peaceably to establish a constitution 
of government for their safety and happi¬ 
ness.” There was some objection, but the 
motion was carried and on October 3, 1789, 
Washington issued a proclamation appoint¬ 
ing Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a day 
of general thanksgiving. This w r as the 
first Thanksgiving proclamation issued by 
a United States president, and this day 
may be considered the first national 
Thanksgiving Day. 

A second Thanksgiving proclamation 
was issued by Washington in 1795 on the 
suppression of the Whiskey Insurrection. 
In April, 1815, at the conclusion of the 
second war with England, President Madi¬ 
son, by the request of Congress, appointed 




1 Thanksgiving of Peace. Several 

presidents issued similar pro- 

■jLt.i'-'Btons on special occasions, but it was 

WXy left to the governors of the states 
P© decide if there should be a day of 
thanksgiving and to fix the date of its 
observance. 

About 1830 the Governor of New York 
appointed a Thanksgiving Day and the 
custom was soon followed in the other 
Northern States. In the South, Thanks¬ 
giving was practically unknown until 1855. 
In that year Governor Jones, of Virginia, 
requested the State Legislature to recog¬ 
nize the day. His request was not com¬ 
plied with, but the matter aroused con¬ 
siderable discussion and in 1857 Governor 
Wise issued a Thanksgiving proclamation 
and the day was generally observed through¬ 
out the State. The following year eight 
Southern States observed the day, the gov¬ 
ernors having issued proclamations. The 
Civil War, however, put an end to its cele¬ 
bration in the South and also in many of 
the Northern states. 

In 1864, President Lincoln issued a proc¬ 
lamation appointing the fourth Thursday 
in November, with the view of having the 
day observed every year thereafter. The 
very next year, however, the assassination 
of Lincoln almost caused a suspension of 
this rule, but President Johnson was pre¬ 
vailed upon to appoint the last Thursday 
in November as Thanksgiving Day, and 
since then each President has followed this 
custom. On receiving the President’s proc¬ 
lamation the governors of the several 
states issue a proclamation of their own, 
naming the same day. Thanksgiving Day 
is now observed everywhere throughout the 
United States and is kept as a legal holiday 
in almost every state and territory. 

The adoption of the last Thursday in 
November as a uniform date for the observ¬ 
ance of Thanksgiving was largely due to 


m^Korts of Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, a prom¬ 
inent American authoress of the last 
century. About 1840 she began agitating 
for a more general observance of the day 
and the selection of a definite time, so that 
the celebration might have A more national 
character. Year after year she wrote to 
the governors of the states asking them to 
appoint the last Thursday in November. 
The idea met with general approval and 
this finally led to the adoption of the present 
method of fixing the date. 

Some Thanksgiving Customs. 

Thanksgiving Day is observed by 
feasting and general festivity, and has long 
been one of the greatest home festivals of 
the year, and a day of family reunions. 
Among the customs formerly connected 
with the celebration was the making of 
calls, similar to the custom which was fol¬ 
lowed on New Year’s Day. Fifty or sixty 
years ago the custom of making calls on 
Thanksgiving Day was very common, and 
society people dined early and then held 
receptions. 

In New York City and its vicinity one 
of the strange customs connected with the 
celebration of Thanksgiving was the parades 
of men and boys dressed in odd and fantas¬ 
tic costumes. Twenty-five or thirty years 
ago this custom was generally followed, 
and the streets were crowded all day and 
strangely dressed people were seen in pro¬ 
cessions. These ragamuffin parades have 
gradually fallen into disuse and are now 
mostly confined to children, who dress up 
in the cast-off clothes of their older 
brothers and sisters and go around the 
streets begging. This custom undoubtedly 
had its origin from the mummeries and 
masking taking place on Guy Fawke’s 
Day, November 5th, which was observed 
in the American colonies before the Rev¬ 
olution, and is still celebrated in England. 


The foregoing abstract has been compiled from tjedlcL records and documents contained in the Free Public 
Library of Jersey City, by the Assistant Librariatv'' , fhe Library has a large and valuable collection of books and 
magazine articles relating to the history and observance of Thanksgiving Day, and also many poems, stories, plays, etc., 
suitable for Thanksgiving entertainments. These may be borrowed for home reading or consulted in the Ref< rence De¬ 
partment. Lists of same may be obtained on application. 
































GAYLORD BROS. 

makers 
SYRACUSE, - N.Y. 

PAT. JAN. fti, 190* 






